Desk telephone set



May 14, 1940. H. SENGEBUSCH DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed Sept. 17. 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

- INVENTOR.

HANS SENGEBUSCH 2% TTORNEY.

y 1940- H. SENGEBUSCH 2,200,810

DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed Sept. 17, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3 FIG. 4

FIG.5

FIG. 6 F16. 7

INVENTOR.

HANS SENGEBUSCH ATTORNEY.

' Pittman-. 14, mo

UNlTED STAT,

pass msrnosa sar- Bans Smcbusoh. vinsociated Electric Laboratories, 111., a corporation of. Delaware Park, m. allilnor to As- Ina, Chicago,

Application September 11, ms, w No. 230.860

mm. (c1. 119-140) The invention relates in general to telephone sets but more particularly toan improved desk telephone of the cradle type.-

An object of the invention is to 5 construction of the desk telephone shown and claimed in an application of Herbert F. Obergfell, -Ser. No. 218,356, filed July 9, 1938, to facilitate moving the same by hand from place to place by providing pivoted fingers lifting ball which is rotatable above the handset of the telephone for the purpose of lifting the entire telephone without displacing the hand telephone on the cradle.

Other objects and features of the invention' will be apparent from the detail description of the drawings comprising Figs. 1 to'l, inclusive. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the hand telephone removed from the cradle.

Fig. 2 shows a cross section with the hand telephone on the cradle and the fingers lifting bail in operated or lifting position. The dotted lines show the fingers lifting bail in normal position. Figs. 3 and 4 show, respectively, front and side views of the preferred fingers lifting bail.

Fig. 5 shows a front view of the mounting block in which the fingers lifting bail is rotatably mounted.

Figs. 6 and improve the g '1 show fingers lifting bail having a slightly different shape.

Referring now in general to the cover ill of the desk telephone is'formed in one piece of some suitable plastic insulating compound and has a general shape roughly corresponding to a truncated pyramid thereby enabling ease in moulding. 'I'hebase portion of the cover comprises ten sides or skirts II which extend substantially vertical for a short distance at which point the front, rear, and side surfaces slope inwardly. The two side surfaces l2 and I 3 slope upwardly and inwardly from the skirt sideportion only a short distance at which point both the side surfaces extend substantially vertical. The front surface i4 slopes upwardly and inwardly at an angle of substantially 40 degrees until it is rounded in a substantially horizontal top portion it which extends a short distance to the rear where it merges into the rear surface it. The rear surface It extendingfrom the rear skirts i I to where it merges with; the top portion II slopes upwardly and inwardly. 'Ihe slope of the rear surface it is a perfect arcof a circle having substantially a nine inch radius. .The two side surfaces form side walls I! and i8 which extend from the top portion it near the front to drawings the the rear skirts H, thereby I forming a channel comprising the two inside surfaces llv and 20 of the side walls and the curved rear surface it. Each side wall at its highest .point terminates in a pair of spaced pillars 2i. The space between 5 these pillars forming a cradle for the well-known combination transmitter and receiver handset.

A plunger 22 is movably mounted in the space between the two pillars in each side wall. These plungers are provided for operating the switch- 10 book springs (not shown) whenever the handset I is removed or replaced on the cradle.

A base plate "having arubber ring 24 is' secured tothe bottom of the cover by means of screws which screw into threaded inserts in the 16 cover. 1

The channel formed by the curved rear surface It and the inside surfaces l9 and 20 of the two side walls l1 and it starts at the rear and gradually deepens. Its greatestdepth being at a vertical point from the two rear pillars 2| in the side walls. Due to the depth of the channel the fingers can firmly grasp the underside of a handset (not shown) resting on the plungers 22 in the cradle between the pillars 2| and side walls I! 25 and ii. In known desk sets only the tip ends of the fingers can grasp the sides of the handset resulting in an insecure finger grip on the handset. This insecure finger grip often permits the handset to fall after it has been removed from 80 the cradle. In case the handset slips and falls from the insecure finger tip grip considerable damage or breakage may occur.

Another advantage provided by this channel is to minimize cord interference. For example, a subscriber, in hurriedly replacing the handset on the cradle, may allow the cord extending from the desk stand to the handset, to loop between the plungers of the cradle. In many instances these loops prevent the proper depression of the 40 plungers since the handset rests on the cord and does not depress the plungers sumciently to properly control the substation circuit. Under these conditions the telephone is temporarily out of service in regard to incoming calls. This defect has been overcome by providing a channel which starts near the front pillars and which has suilicient depth so that the cord will not interfere with the proper operation of the plungers in case,

the cord is accidentally looped in between the pillars.

Mounting blocks 32 are provided between each pairhof pillars 2| in the side walls I! and it. These mounting blocks 32 form the top surface of the cradle which supports the hand telephone ll and are provided with threaded screw holes 36 into which screws from inside the casing hold the mounting block in place. A hole 31 is provided in each mounting block 32 for the plungers 22 which operate the cradle switchhook springs (not shown). A hole 35 is also provided in each mounting block 32 for pivotally mounting the fingers lifting bail 50 or HI.

Due to the general shape of the cover or casing III which is provided with smooth sloping sids, the desk telephone is not easily picked up and moved by hand from place to place because no suitable finger or hand grip is available for lifting and moving the desk telephone. In order to provide means for easily lifting and moving the desk telephone from place to place a fingers lifting ball 50 has been provided. The lifting bail 50 is in general U-shaped. The open ends of this U-shaped lifting ball 50 are provided with rounded pins 5| which are insertable in the holes 35 of the mounting blocks 32 for the purpose of rotating the closed end or the finger grip end of the lifting bail above the hand telephone 60. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show the lifting bail 50 resting in the channel between the side walls I! and I8. In this position the bail 50 does not in any way interfere with fingers of the user when removing the hand telephone 60 from the cradle. The depth of the channel below the cradle is sufiilcient to allow the fingers of the user to grasp the underside of the hand telephone thereby providing a better grip of the hand telephone than is provided by most desk telephones which permit only the finger tips to grasp the sides of the hand telephone when removing the same from the cradle. The full line position of Fig. 2 shows the lifting bail 50' in operated or lifting position with the closed end of the bail above the hand telephone. This closed end portion forms the finger grip for enabling the user to lift and move the telephone. It should be noted that the two legs of the bail 50 curve near the pivoted open ends in such a manner that the hand telephone 60 is not displaced from the plungers 22 with the bail 50 in lifting position. This curvature of the bail 50 also allows the closed end portion or the finger grip portion to be rotated above the hand telephone at approximately a point above the center of gravity of the entire telephone.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a somewhat similar U-shaped lifting bail 10 having rounded pins H which are insertable in the holes 35 of the mount ing blocks 32 to permit rotation of the closed end or finger grip portion above the hand telephone 60. The curvature of this bail likewise permits the rotation of the finger grip portion above the hand telephone to lifting position without displacing the hand telephone from the plungers 22.

The normal position of this bail corresponds to the dotted lines in Fig. 2 while the lifting position corresponds to the full line position of ball 50 also shown in Fig. 2. Bail 10 like bail 50 also rests in the channel formed by the side walls I! and I8 and rear surface I6 out of the way of the fingers of the user when removing the hand telephone from the cradle.

Having described the invention, what is con-.

sidered to be novel is pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a desk telephone, a casing having a cradle support for the hand telephone, a fingers lifting bail pivotally mounted in the cradle support directly below the hand telephone and above the approximate center of gravity of the entire desk telephone, the finger grip portion of said ball manually rotatable directly above the hand telephone to provide a finger grip for the user at a point above the hand telephone and approximate center of gravity, said bail having a curvature near its pivoted point such as to obviate displacement of the hand telephone during the lifting and moving of the entire desk telephone by the user.

2. In a desk telephone, a casing having inwardly and upwardly sloping front and rear surfaces and side walls, a cradle support for the hand telephone formed by the side walls, a channel below said hand telephone formed by the inside surfaces of said side walls and the rear surface, a fingers lifting bail pivotally mounted in said side walls directly below the hand telephone at a point above the approximate center of gravity of the entire desk telephone and nor mally resting in said channel out of the way during the removal and replacement of the hand telephone from the cradle by the user, said bail having a curvature such as to permit the portion of said bail forming the fingers grip to be rotatable directly above said hand telephone and approximate center of gravity by the user for use in lifting and moving the entire desk telephone without the necessity of removing the hand telephone from its cradle support.

3. In a desk telephone, a casing having side walls, a pair of spaced pillars terminating the upper extremities of each side wall and forming the cradle support for the hand telephone, a plunger positioned between each pair of pillars in said side walls, a fingers lifting bail rotatably mounted in said cradle support between each pair of pillars, the finger grip portion of said bail manually rotatable directly above the hand telephone to a point above the approximate center of gravity of the entire desk telephone, said bail having a curvature such as to obviate displacement of the hand telephone and operation of said plungers during the lifting and moving of the entire desk telephone by the user.

4. In a desk telephone, a cover comprising one piece having inwardly and upwardly sloping front and rear surfaces and side walls, a pair of pillars plungers operable in response to the removal and replacement of said hand telephone with respect to said cradle support, a fingers lifting bail pivotally mounted in said mounting blocks and the finger grlp portion of said bail rotatable in said channel to a point directly above the hand telephone and approximate center of gravity of the entire desk telephone for lifting and moving the 

